Before the fantasy football crowd jumps all over me, I'm not talking about you. Not at all. In fact, fantasy football has been a huge reason for the growth of the NFL in recent years. Television ratings and fan interest are up, even in non-marquee games, and fantasy football is a gigantic portion of that growth. I know where my bread's buttered. Keep playing your hearts out!

The stats I'm referring to are the ones that players and more often the coaches of losing teams bring up when discussing losses. They'll mention the things they did well, like rushing yards or third down defense or time of possession or whatever. I'm not entirely sure if they are trying to make themselves feel better after getting beat, or making an effort to positively spin a message after failing to win.

They'll also point to the things they did poorly as compared to their opponent. It might be sacks allowed or turnovers or short yardage. It doesn't matter. The justification for bringing up these areas is much clearer: As you can see, we are very close to winning the game and if we just had one more of these or two less of these, we would have won the game.

You ever hear the winning coach or players talk about stats? It happens, but rarely, and it certainly happens much less than their counterparts on the losing side.

You know why? They won. They talk about the winning plays that were made that ultimately made the difference in the game. They don't need to use stats as a crutch or a tissue, depending on your point of view. They got the coveted "W" and that is all that ultimately matters.

Need some examples?

Consider the fact going into Week 13, the Houston Texans had the number one ranked overall team defense in the NFL. What had that gotten them up that point? A 2-9 record and after losing to the Patriots on Sunday (and giving up a bunch of yards I might add), they are in line for the number one overall pick in the draft. Remarkable.

Or how about the Washington Redskins? They entered Sunday night's contest with the New York Giants leading the NFL in both rushing yards per game and rushing yards per carry. What did they have to show for it at that point? Three wins. Three! They also proceeded to have the three running backs that touched the ball against the Giants total 32 yards on 17 touches as they lost yet again.

At 34 years of age I'm probably a little too young for a "back in my day" note, but it is hard for me to fathom that teams with the number one defense and number one rushing attack are among the five worst teams in the NFL. Those each used to be a pretty good indicator of success. Evidently not anymore.

I don't know what's happened to running the football. In Week 12 the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings all rushed for well over 200 yards. The first two lost and the last one tied. I can't ever remember that happening.

Then there's the curious case of Alex Smith. The Chiefs quarterback has clearly played much better in the team's three consecutive losses than he did in Kansas City's first nine wins and the numbers bear that out—even with all of the drops from his receivers that he's had to endure. Go figure.

I could go on and on. The Packers have the second-ranked offense in the NFL, at least statistically, yet they are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. The Redskins are eighth in that category. Conversely, the Niners possess the 30th-ranked offense in the NFL yet are coming off two impressive double digit victories and appear primed for a potential playoff run.

The bottom line is that what matters are the winning plays that are made (or not made as the case may be) when the game is on the line. Some teams, like the New England Patriots, have a strong tendency to make those plays. Their kicker, Stephen Gostowski, hammering not one but two 53 yard kicks in the fourth quarter to first tie and subsequently win the game is evidence of that. Others, like the Texans again on Sunday with several critical mistakes in the fourth quarter—including two burned timeouts and inexplicable drops by Andre Johnson and Garrett Graham—don't.

That's not to say that stats are meaningless or they don't provide value. Far from it.

Statistics are a good way to identify what you are doing well and where you need improvement. There's a reason why businesses want as many metrics as possible; they want to make data-driven decisions. That makes sense and is good business.

In the NFL these days, the best indicators of success are turnovers and red zone percentage.

Clearly, turnovers are and have been the most directly correlated stat to success for quite some time. That hasn't changed and I doubt it ever will. The red zone's influence and increasing usage as an indicator is picking up steam. The difference between field goals and touchdowns, both on offense and defense, is significant. There are plenty of bend but don't break defenses like the Patriots that are in the bottom half of yards allowed but top 10 in terms of the points they allow. Points ultimately being the only number that truly matters, of course.

Watch and listen to the post-game press conferences sometime. I can guarantee on average the losing coach will reference the stats more than the winning coach.